Far From Home
by VampsOnCrack
Summary: "Tour? You're going on tour and lying to everyone about it!" "Well I wasn't exactly going to call home and say "Hey Dad, you know how you were so proud of me finally maturing and going to university? Well that didn't work out and now I'm sleeping in a van with three other guys!"
1. Chapter 1

"Oh come on Casey, you deserve a night out !"

"I just can't, Meredith! I have too much work to do !" Casey belied to her friend as the two left the dance studio where they'd spent most of their afternoon practicing. They walked down the busy New York streets on their way to the subway station that was just around the corner, relishing the cool air that February brought and the way it cooled them down post-practice.

"You always have work to do! I swear you work double as much as the rest of us" Meredith admonished.

"Well I'm determined to finish my novella by the end of the year"

"Well you're not going to finish it tonight, are you? So you can come out with me, just this once!"

Meredith stopped them both at the entrance to the subway station, holding onto Casey's shoulders to stop her from walking away.

"Please! They're a great band, you'll love them! I've been following their stuff online for a while now and they're finally coming to New York, and I don't want to go on my own. It's not even like you'll have to spend any money! The ticket's already paid for since Jeff canceled on me, and I'll pay for your drinks all night!"

Casey hesitated, but found her will crumbling under Meredith's pleading gaze. She huffed and then nodded, and was almost knocked over by the force of her friend launching herself at her and hugging her fiercely.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" She squealed as she clung to Casey, who hugged her back. "How about I come over to yours later and we'll get ready together? I'm so excited !" She clapped her hands excitedly and ran off down the steps of the station, leaving Casey standing there chuckling at the exuberance of her friend. She reminded her of Marti with her manic energy, always bubbly and optimistic, even when she twisted her ankle and was out of commission in the dance troupe for two weeks. Casey had to jog to catch her up so that she didn't lose her in the rush hour crowd.

8pm found Casey and Meredith stood outside the Spectrum concert hall, waiting in line to enter. Meredith was practically buzzing with excitement. She was jumping up and down on the spot, clutching the tickets so hard Casey was almost worried they're not going to be let in because the tickets will be too crumpled. They were let in however, and soon they were standing in the near-dark up near the front of the stage, half-empty cups in their hands (only soda for Casey, she wasn't of age and didn't want to try and lie to the bartender) and brows already sweating from the close proximity of other people. Casey wasn't a crowd person by nature, and was really hoping the band was as good as Meredith claimed.

A chord rang out from the speakers that silenced the crowd for a second, before the roaring and screaming started. Casey was glad to have bought her ear plugs. A voice rang out loudly: People of New York, are you ready?" the crowd responded with another round of screaming.

"Then welcome to the stage, Purple Fog !" The stage lights turned on abruptly, exposing the band who immediately started to play their opening song. It was a hard rock song, but not too shouty or violent. The crowd immediately started moving to the beat of the song, jumping up and down and shaking their heads in rhythm.

Casey stood still among the dancing masses as she watched the band in front of her play, unable to tear her eyes away from the sight in front of her. The singer of the band was also the lead guitarist, and he was currently jumping around the stage for his guitar solo, bouncing up against the other band members and having the time of his life. His face was lit up in joy and laughter. It was a face she hadn't seen for half a year, but it was a face that she'd recognize no matter what. She found that she couldn't look away as he strummed his guitar and sang into the microphone mere meters from her.

She got quite literally knocked out of her stupor when a man dancing next to her accidentally elbowed her in the ribs. She clutched her side in pain, but waved the guy off when he stopped to make sure she was okay. She decided to escape from the mass of people and retreated to the bar that stood at the back of the room. She shouted her order of a soda over the noise to the barman and stood there sipping her drink delicately as she decided what the hell she was going to do. She was angry and wanted to leave, but she had come with Meredith and she couldn't abandon her friend, and expect her to walk home alone in the middle of the night, what sort of friend would she be? Plus, Meredith had said how much she loved the band and was looking forward to seeing them play live, Casey just couldn't ruin her night for her own selfish reasons. So, she sighed and resigned herself to watching the band and the crowd from afar.

She was distracted from her drink as the bass player took the mic.

"This next song is something a little different to our usual stuff. As you probably know, all our original songs are written by the band as a whole. But this one was written solo, by our favorite frontman. So if you don't like it, it's all on him" He paused while the audience laughed. "This one's called 'Never off my mind'"

The song started slow, more a ballad than a rock song. Casey found she liked this one the most out of all the songs they'd played, but then again she always did favor softer music. It sounded almost like a love ballad. Casey was entranced by the singing, the tone of his voice one she'd never heard before, much softer and emotional. It was a side of him she'd only seen on sparse occasions. She couldn't take her eyes off him, even after the song ended and moved onto a much rockier song called 'Far from home'.

She watched alone from afar, right until the end, Meredith only appearing next to her once the band finished their _third_ encore.

"Come on, the band's packing up. We should go hang out over there and if we're lucky they might chat with us for a while"

"I don't know Mer" Casey started "it's getting late and-"

"Come on Case" She pleaded, grabbing Casey's hand and pulling slightly on it. "It's fun being a groupie for the night. Let yourself live in the moment, just once" She relented and let herself be pulled over to the raised platform that was the stage where the different band members were busy putting away their instruments and rolling up cables. Casey noticed that they weren't the only people hanging around the foot of the stage; a gaggle of giggling young women stood there hoping to catch the eyes of the band. She stood a little ways behind Meredith, who looked ready to jump onto the stage at any moment. She tried to look disinterested, choosing to look around the room rather than at the musicians.

Finally the band finished up their packing and ambled over to their adoring fans, signing CD covers left and right, giving out smiles and handshakes freely. Eventually they guitarist came over to where Meredith stood and took her offered hand.

"Hi, my name's Meredith. I love your music and I'm so happy you finally came to New York. I even persuaded my friend to come along with me tonight, and this is definitely not her kind of music. Case, say hi!"

He looked past Meredith's head to where Casey stood, hands in her pockets, trying desperately not to be noticed.

"Casey?" He gaped, his eyes wide.

"Hey Derek"


	2. Chapter 2

"Wait" Meredith said, perplexed "You two know each other?"

Her question went unanswered however, as Casey let loose the questions that had been tumbling around her brain all night.

"What the hell Derek? What are you doing here, in New York? With a band? Last I knew you were still at Queens, considering George told me two weeks ago how proud he was of your serious attitude towards your schoolwork this semester. Does he know you're here?"

Derek had the decency to look guilty at that statement. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"I mean, technically I was in Kingston two weeks ago, as our tour started last week"

She smacked his arm, a reflex from years of arguing. Meredith looked shocked but Derek didn't even flinch.

"Tour? You're going on tour and lying to everyone about it?!"

"Well I wasn't exactly going to call home and say "Hey Dad, you know how you were so proud of me finally maturing and going to university? Well that didn't work out and now I'm sleeping in a van with three other guys!"

By now their argument had gathered a small crowd consisting of the other band members, Meredith and a couple of other fans, who all chuckled at his statement. A man that Casey recognized as the bassist from the band – the band that _Derek was in_ – sauntered up behind Derek and casually lent his elbow on Derek's shoulder, apparently completely at ease with the tension surrounding them.

"Who is this, D? Ex-girlfriend or something?"

Both Derek and Casey pulled disgusted faces at the assumption.

"As if! _This_ is the bane of my existence. Michael, meet my crazy step-sister Casey" Casey heard Meredith gasp off to her left, but she was still too concentrated on Derek to turn around.

"Oh, the one from all your stories! Hi, it's good to finally meet you!" Michael held out his hand, a big smile across his face. Casey took the hand automatically, her manners kicking in, but her eyes stayed on Derek, glowering at him.

"Derek, what _exactly_ have you told them about me?"

"Oh, just some stories of life at home. The Best-of reel, if you will. The birthday debacle, the whole allergic reaction to your boyfriend thing, the many, _many_ Klutzilla incidents…"

"Der-_ek_!"

"Oh wow, your impression was spot-on, D!" Michael joked as he nudged Derek with his elbow. Casey grunted in exasperation and grabbed Derek by the arm, and started dragging him away from the crowd of people that had surrounded them, ignoring his protests. She didn't stop until they were outside the venue, the cold air biting against their faces. They got a few looks from the bouncers standing guard at the door, but no one attempted to stop them. She carried on pulling at him until they were a little further down the road, away from any sort of crowd. She finally released his arm and crossed her own, while he rubbed the area she'd grabbed onto.

"Jeez Case, were you trying to dismember me?" Casey didn't respond. She just stared him down silently while tapping her foot, giving him the full Casey glare. She watched him as he shifted uncomfortably, but didn't relent. Eventually he cracked and talked first.

"Look, I know that it's not exactly a 'responsible decision', but-"

"You can say that again!" Casey interrupted him angrily. "I swear it's like you don't think about your decisions on purpose! How did you expect to keep this a secret?"

"Well it's been working so far! I just wasn't expecting you to turn up at the one gig we did in New York, miles away from your apartment, on a Tuesday night! Since when do you have a social life, Space Case?"

"Don't try to change the subject! We're discussing you lying to your family, and throwing away a scholarship and a chance of a decent education to go gallivanting around America! Without telling anyone! What if you'd had a serious accident, or even died? Or what if someone else in the family had? No one would know where you were"

"Look, I know it's not a good situation okay? I know that!" Derek shouted back at her. "But I had to do what I felt was right for me!"

" 'What felt right for you'?! What about hockey, or the photography courses you were taking? You seemed to think they were pretty 'right for you' when you signed up for college! When Mom and George find out, you are so dead!" Derek's eyes went wide.

"You can't tell them Casey! Please! If you tell I'm going to get guilted into going back to university, and I can't do it! I was only there for a few months and I could feel my soul dying inside. I didn't want to be there, I realized that as soon as classes started but by then it was too late. Not even hockey was enough to make me stay. Please please please Casey, I'm begging you not to say anything"

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Derek, begging? It was enough to make her hesitate. Obviously, he didn't deserve her cooperation. He had dropped out of school, lied to his entire family and left the country without telling anyone. The epitome of impulsiveness and selfishness, as he had always been. However, she had never seen him as happy as he had been on stage. Not even after a particularly magnanimous win in a hockey match, which he'd claimed was better than sex (much to her disgust). She looked into his open, honest eyes and found her will crumbling. She tried to stick to her guns nonetheless.

"I can't lie to my family Derek! I'm not you!"

"You don't have to _lie_, per se. Just don't mention it to them, pretend as though you haven't seen me."

She sighed, knowing that she'd already lost.

"Okay, I'll keep your secret. But I have one condition" Derek held his breath, fearing the worst.

"Keep me updated on how you are. If I'm the only person who knows what you're really doing, I deserve to know that you're still alive."

Derek snorted.

"Sure thing, _mom_."

"I'm serious. That's my only condition. Text me at least twice a week, letting me know how things are going. It's the least you can do, really."

Before she could react, she was pulled into a bone crushing hug from Derek. Yet another thing she never expected from him. She could do nothing, just hold her arms awkwardly at her sides.

"Thank you Casey. Seriously, you have no idea."

He released her from his embrace and the pair stood in a somewhat awkward silence for a few moments. Casey cracked first.

"So… Purple Fog?"

Derek rolled his eyes and brought his hand up to his face in embarrassment.

"We were trying to figure out a name and we'd gone through at least fifty and I said it as a joke and they just ran with it and then we started actually getting gigs and it was too late to change it" He rambled.

"Well then, I expect my royalty checks are just getting lost in the mail then" She joked. He just rolled his eyes and together they went back inside to find their friends.


	3. Chapter 3

Surprisingly, Derek kept his word and Casey received at least two texts a week from him, usually at ridiculous hours of the night, telling her how he was. They always started the same way: _Still alive Space Case, _followed by a brief summary of where they'd been, where they currently were and what their plans were for the next few days. Casey didn't always respond, but if she did they shared a civil back and forth exchanging anecdotes about the goings on of the past few days, usually stories about Derek's bandmates over-drinking and doing ridiculous things and bizarre people Casey met at stage door after her performances. Once or twice Derek had even called her, when something particularly outlandish happened that was too long and complexe for a simple text chain.

It was disconcerting for Casey, not being permanently at loggerheads with Derek. The almost-friendship that had recently developed was confusing to say the least. She found that when Derek wasn't spending all his time insulting her, he could actually be fun to talk to. For once she could see why he was the most popular guy in high school.

She walked into the dance studio and sat on a spot in the center of the room, as other people milled around chatting and making small talk. They were all waiting for their choreographer to give them the usual pep talk for their run-through before the performance that evening. It was her final performance before her 2 week holiday. She'd already booked her plane ticket home to London, and while she was excited to see her family for the first time in months, she was also worried. She'd managed to avoid talking about Derek to her mother since she'd discovered his secret life – which wasn't that hard since they didn't speak much about Derek anyway. Once she was home however, the topic was bound to come up, and she was a truly horrible liar. Her mother would know immediately that something was up by the look on her face.

Just as the choreographer started talking, she felt a buzzing underneath her backside. She reached down and pulled out her phone to see a text from Derek. He'd already texted her twice this week, and called her two days ago to tell her about drummer Tay's latest drunken escpade involving a bus stop, a fire extinguisher and a tequila-inspired rendition of Bon Jovi's entire discography, so she was confused as to why he was contacting her. Discretely she unlocked her phone and read the text.

_I'll be back in NY on Saturday. Boss got us an extra gig for the end of tour -D_

She rolled her eyes. It came across as just a statement of facts, but she knew that that was the closest thing to an invitation as she was ever going to get from Derek. Luckily she'd only planned to go home for the second week of her holiday, wanting to spend the first relaxing as much as she could and actually enjoying the city she'd lived in for the past six months but had seen very little of. She would therefore be free to go see Derek play in two days.

_I suppose that's your way of inviting me to come? -C_

She barely had time to put her phone away again before it buzzed again.

_Spectrum, 8pm. You'll be on the list -D_

Casey smirked. She'd never been on any list for any bar or club before.

"Casey!" Meredith shouted from across the room. "Come on, stretch with me!"

Casey looked up and noticed that everyone had gotten up and was already stretching and limbering up. She hastily shoved her phone back in her bag and hurried over to where her friend was waiting.

"You weren't paying attention for once, what was so distracting?" Meredith asked as she pulled her arms above her head and stretched out the muscles there. Casey copied her moves as she leant from side to side.

"Nothing important, just a text from Derek"

"Oooh, what news from the rock star?" She asked excitedly.

"He's not a rock star, and he was letting me know that they'd be back in town on Saturday for another gig."

"Really?! Oh my God we _have _to go!" She squealed. Casey smiled at her exuberence.

"Derek's already invited me. But of course you should come too!" She brought out her phone once again and shot off a quick text to Derek.

_Any chance Meredith can be on the list too? -C_

Once again he answered straight away. He must be bored, Casey thought.

_I'll see what I can do -D_

Saturday night rolled around and both Casey and Meredith were looking forward to it. Meredith was less giddy than last time, altough still very excited, and Casey was surprisingly excited too. Now that she knew what to expect, she found that she was actually looking forward to seeing Derek play again. She felt a little ridiulous telling the bouncer she was 'on the list', but she had to admit it felt good when he checked and then let them in before everyone else, free of charge. It felt like she was important, special in some way.

The show was just as good as the last time, if not better. Derek seemed even more energetic, if that were possible considering his energy levels last time and the fact that it was the end of a pretty packed tour. Casey had the fleeting thought that maybe drugs were involved, as was often for musicicans and artists, but it left as soon as it came. Derek had always stated his utter distain for atheletes that used drugs, and ranted about it every time one was exposed for doping. He was oddly principaled about the matter, saying that needing drugs to be the best meant you were just a fake, and if there was one thing Derek hated it was fakers.

She and Meredith had an amazing time, dancing along to the songs and jumping around in time to the rhythm. Even though it wasn't Casey's go-to style of music, she could still appreciate it. Once or twice she caught Derek's eye, and smiled up at him. He looked like he was having the time of his life, and grinned and winked at her.

There were fewer qualms about going up to the stage this time, and Meredith and Casey made a beeline for it as soon as the crowd starting dissipating. Derek and his guitar had already dissapeared into the back room, so Casey and Meredith stood and talked with the rest of the band. She hadn't really got to know them that well last time, as all her energy had been directed towards Derek, but she had at least got all their names. Michael was the bass player, and he was tall and lanky, with a lumberjack beard and dark brown eyes. Stephen the rhythm guitarist was shorter than the rest, and quite wide set but had a warm friendly smile. It turned out that drummer Tay's full name was actually Octavius, although he apparently despised the name. He preferred to go by Tay, and Casey noticed that he was missing two fingers of his right hand. She hadn't wanted to ask him for fear of being rude. The group chatted about tour life and dance practices. Casey noticed that Meredith kept throwing glances at Michael, and Michael had been returning the glances when he thought she wasn't looking.

"Hey Case!" Derek shouted from across the stage. He ran over to her and before she could react he put his arms around her waist and picked her up, twirling them both around on the spot. Casey was dumbfounded. Her hands automatically went around his neck to stop herself from bringing them both down crashing. As he put her down he whispered in her ear : "Monkeyslut. Just go with it". She stiffened slightly. Monkeyslut was a word Edwin and Lizzie had suggested a couple of years ago as their sibling emergency codeword. A word to use if ever they needed to quickly and effectively communicate an emergency. Both she and Derek and laughed it off, but the word had nonetheless wormed its way into the vernacular of all five of them. It had a range of meanings, from the original emergency (used once when George and Nora were away, and Marti fell down the stairs. Casey had called Derek and had only got out the words 'Monkeyslut' and 'Marti' before Derek had abandoned his date and was racing back to the house), to 'trust me' (used by Derek when Casey almost backed out of her final ballet recital, she was sat outside crying and Derek appeared, held out his hand, said the magic word and that was all she needed to get going), to a simple 'Help!' (Used by Lizzie who came running round a corner and needed hiding by a boy who hadn't got her repeated hints that she wasn't interested). Whatever was going on, it was serious.

He kept his arms rested at her waist as he sighed happily.

"Five weeks is too long!" He kissed her forehead lightly, while she stood frozen in shock. He rested his forehead against hers and whispered again.

"I'm sorry, but I didn't have a choice"

"What the hell is going on Derek?" she asked, although she didn't move away from him.

"Take my hand and pull me off into a corner. Make it look like we're … having quality time or whatever saps like you call it. I'll explain"

A.N. The idea of the codeword came from Misfits (awesome 18+ show for anyone who hasn't seen it yet). While thinking of an appropriate codeword I used a placeholder : Monkeyslut, the one from the show. The idea of Casey saying Monkeyslut makes me giggle.


End file.
